Record Breaking Prices Led by Seattle

The seemingly unstoppable upward trek of Seattle’s home prices received special mention by the editors of CoreLogic’s Case Shiller Home Price Index, who observed that “Seattle prices are rising 5.2 percentage points faster than Portland, the city with the next highest increase,” and that “Seattle has seen the highest year-over-year percentage gains for the last ten months.”

Seattle’s record-breaking price growth coincides with reported “all-time highs” for the index as a whole. Case-Shiller’s 20-City Composite was also up 5.7% year-over-year in June, sustaining the rate recorded for May.

This being Seattle and the Eastside’s peak season for waterfront sales, the general home price increases have been reflected in unheard-of prices paid for waterfront properties in July and August. Several notable sales illustrate these conditions: two $5.5 million sales, one on Mercer Island and another on Lake Washington Boulevard in Bellevue’s Meydenbauer community, both in mid-July; and an early-August $14.3 million sale in Bellevue. Most noteworthy of all was a $21 million sale on Shoreland Drive in Bellevue of a home with 265 feet of frontage on Lake Washington. Becky Gray of Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty has just introduced a competitive home for sale at Yarrow Point, featuring 116 feet of waterfront and 6,100 feet of living space. This home is currently listed for $9.4 million.